Germany Links Motorway Speeding With Climate Change
Apr 01, 2008 |
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An emotional public debate is currently raging in Germany on whether to
do away with a ‘national icon’ - driving as fast as you can on the
country's autobahn or motorways. Germany's car industry, having built
its reputation on high-powered BMWs, Porsches and Mercedes that cruise
effortlessly at speeds of over 200 kmph, is vehemently opposed to speed
limits. Germany is the only country in the world with no blanket
speed-limit on motorways, with only a ‘recommended speed’ of 130 kmph.
But a growing number of Germans are now questioning this freedom,
arguing that it makes no sense calling for measures to curb global
warming in other countries while at home motorists can effortlessly
continue spewing large amounts of C02 into the atmosphere at the speeds
they are allowed to travel. This prompted one of the two big parties in
the ruling coalition government, the Social Democrats (SPD), to call
for a speed limit of 130 kmph at its recent party congress in Hamburg. |
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UN Promises To Back Afforestation Efforts In Brazil
Mar 01, 2008 |
 The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced his support for Brazil's efforts to preserve its Amazon rainforest. “I make my firm commitment that the UN will work with you and stand by you,” Ban said during a tour of Combu Island in the Guama River. Calling the Amazon ‘a common asset of all humankind’, Ban said, “The people who have been living here for thousands and thousands of years, are the pioneers in preserving this forest.” Ban praised Brazil for its efforts to curb forest destruction by 50 per cent in the previous two years, although the rate has regained its pace since August. Ban's visit is part of his assessment on climate change, which he said would be one of his top priorities during his time in office. Accompanying Ban's tour, Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva said the “presence of the UN secretary general is a strong gesture” for the country's conservation efforts. Silva also asked Ban to make stronger political efforts to help the forest. Brazil produces the world's fourth-largest amount of carbon emissions, mostly due to the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, according to international environmental groups.
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Russia's Lake Baikal Threatened By Zinc Mine
Feb 01, 2008 |
Green trees sway on the hilly Russian horizon, rainbows pierce Lake
Baikal's grey waters and waves pound a pathless shore. The stark beauty
of the world's deepest and oldest lake is under threat, ecologists say,
because it lies downstream from a rich source of zinc. The proximity
has opened up a debate in this resource-rich nation, pitting
industrialists and job-hungry officials in Siberia against ecologists
and government agencies in Moscow. Experts say the Kholodninskoye
deposit, which sits in a watershed flowing straight into Baikal, is the
planet's third largest lead and zinc field. Zinc is used in the
production of galvanized steel, the automobile industry, household
batteries, vitamin supplements, fireworks and as a compound in some
cosmetics. MBC Resources, a subsidiary of Russia's privately owned
Metropol group, has a license to develop Kholodninskoye, which has an
estimated 13.3 million tonnes of zinc and 2 million tonnes of lead. It
has drafted a plan to develop the field and other metals in the region
at an estimated cost of $4 billion. But ecologists in Buryatia region
in Siberia, where Baikal lies, say development would despoil the
biggest freshwater mass on earth -- already threatened by tourism and
other industries.
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